Pad structures



May 1965 c. p. FROMMELT ETAL 3,181,205

PAD STRUCTURES Filed June 19, 1962 INVENTOK. CYRIL P FROMMELT SYLVAN J. FROMMELT M g W M United States Patent Office 3,181,295 PAD STRUCTURES Cyril lP. Fromm alt and Sylvan .li. Frommeit, Dubuque, lowa, assiguors to Dubuque Awning & Tent Cot, Duhugue, llowa, a corporation of llowa Filed June 19, 11962., Ser. No. 203,647 3 (Jiaims. (til. 2tl-o9) This invention, in general, relates to building structures and to pad structures to be mounted about doorways or other openings in buildings to close off space normally occurring between the rear of a truck body and the doorway or other opening in the building. The invention has particular application to the sealing of the rear end of a truck and the doorway of a room to prevent entry of warmer, outside air into the refrigerated chambers in the truck body and/or room while the truck is being loaded or unloaded or to prevent cold drafts of cold outside air into the building while its door is open during the loading or unloading of a truck. Briefly, this invention comprises a padded, compressible structure which may be mounted about an opening in a building. The compres sible structure extends along at least three sides of the opening. The sides of the compressible structure are mounted on the building in positions whereby the rear ends of sides and top of a truck body bear against them when the truck is backed up to the doorway or other opening for loading or unloading. The rear ends of the truck sides and top press against the compressible structure to provide a seal therebetween against entrance of outside air into the truck body and/ or building.

The compressible structure preferably is made of cellular, resilient, compressible blocks which may be covered with a weather-resistant fabric. One of the features of this invention lies in the use of overlapping plates or flaps on the truck-contacting walls of the side blocks of the compressible structure. These overlapping plates are made of a heavy duty, flexible material and improve the durability against wear and tear of the covering over these truck-contacting walls.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide improvements in compressible structures adapted to seal against entrance of outside air between the rear ends of truck bodies and an opening, such as a doorway, in a building during loading time or unloading time of the truck.

Another object of this invention is to provide improvements in structures of the aforesaid character for truck docks.

Still another primary object of the invention is to provide more durable covering over compressible members of a truck dock pad. 7

Another primary object is to provide a covering over compressible members of a truck dock pad comprising overlapping flaps or plates of flexible, wear-resistant material.

These, and other objects and advantages of the invention, hereafter described or made apparent to those skilled in the art, may be attained by structures embodying the generic principles of the invention. A preferred embodiment for applying these generic principles in practical form is illustrated in the drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a segment of a building showing a loading dock, doorway, and an embodiment of a pad structure of the invention mounted on the building about the sides and top of the doorway;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the pad structure of FIG. 1 with the building wall shown in segment;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the top pad of the embodiment taken on section 3-3 of FIG. 1 with the building wall shown in segment;

3,l3l,25 Fatented May 4, 1965 FIG. 4 is an enlarged, detail View of a segment of a side pad in perspective with the pad being sectioned on section it- 5 of FIG. 1 to show the interior detail of the pad; and

FIG. 5 is a view similar to that of FIG. 4, which View shows an alternate, structural embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a truck dock wherein a bumper plate ll of a truck dock is mounted on a building wall 2. A truck is backed up to the dock until its bed frame bumps against the plate. The build ing Wall has a doorway closed by doors 3, 4 mounted in the door frame 5.

There is mounted on the building wall a compressible dock pad structure which includes the vertical pad 6, 7 of generally block shaped construction. These pads may be mounted fixedly in the door frame or, as in the illustrated case, on the building wall 2 adjacent the sides of the door opening in the building wall. The pads project outwardly beyond the bumper plate 1 a slight distance so that the rear edges of the side walls of a truck body will seat tightly against and compress the pads 6, 7 when the truck is backed up to the doorway with its bed frame against the bumper plate ll. This gives a good seal along the sides of the doorway against entry of atmospheric air into the truck body and/or building.

The pads ti and 7 are mounted on the building wall 2 by Z-brackets or plates 8 having one leg fixedly secured by a screw, bolt or the like to the building wall 2. The other leg of the Z-plates or brackets 8 is offset with respect to the first-mentioned leg and is attached by a screw to the wood backing plate 9 of the pads 6, '7.

A cellular, compressible, resilient body 1% is attached by adhesive or other suitable means to the front face of each backing plate 9. The body lift is made of any suitable natural or synthetic, compressible, resilient resin or polymer, our preferred material being a foamed polyether. The bodies it may be a monolithic block or may be made of a series of two or more stacked blocks of the resilient, compressible material. We prefer a block shape for the pads 6, 7 because, among others, it provides a fiat, truck-contacting, outer side for the pads.

The sides and front face of the compressible, resilient bodies 10 are covered by a waterproof, weather-resistant flexible material such as treated or coated nylon fabric to encase the bodies iii. A single piece of fabric stretched tightly over the body to provide fabric side panels ill, 13 and a fabric front panel 12 is used in the illustrated embodiments of the invention. The front panel 12 has stitched or otherwise secured thereon a vertical row of overlapping, flexible, wear-resistant flaps or plates 14 which provide excellent protection against abrasion and tearing of the pad structures 5, 7. These flaps or plates 14 are attached only along their upper edges to the fabric panel 12, as by stitching l6, and they should overlap to provide the best protective quality. They may be also considered to be a row of overlapping flaps of flexible, wear-resistant material which bear the brunt of wear and tear occurring when the truck is loaded or unloaded or is backed against or driven away from the pads 6, '7.

We have observed that rear door hinges, rear door edges of open doors of trucks and other projections or sharpcornered parts on the rear edges of the sides of trucks tend to wear or tear fabric covers. For example, because of its spring suspension system, the rear end of a truck body rises or settles as it is being unloaded or loaded under the shifting weight while moving the load into or out of the truck. When the rear ends of the sides of a truck press against the pad structures =5, 7, projections or sharp corners embedded in the pad structures may snag the fabric of panel 12 (assuming the pads or plates 14 to be absent) or abrasively wear the fabric by the up and down motion of the rear end of the truck. Because, however, the flaps or plates 14 of flexibile material are attached only at their upper edges to the panel 12, each pad, flap or plate 14 is free to move up and down individually of the other flaps. Because they are flexible, and their sides and bottom are unattached, they can flex or fold enough to move up or down with an abutting part of the rear of the truck.

While many heavy duty fabrics or other flexible sheet materials are siutable materials for the pads, flaps or plates 14, we have found heavy-duty rubberized nylon to be an excellent material. If desired, a strip 15 of rubberized nylon or other heavy-duty fabric may be sewn on each member 14 to provide a vertical guide stripe, as shown in FIG. 5, on each pad structure 6, 7. Wear by abrasion and tearing of fabric covers on the pad structures 6, 7 essentially is eliminated by the use of the aforesaid flexible flaps r plates on the truck-contacting face of the pad structures.

FIG. shows an alternative embodiment in which the compressible, resilient block is mounted on a steel U-channel attached to the building wall 2 by L-plates or brackets 21. The block 10 is secured by adhesive or other suitable means between the sides 22, 23 of the U- channel 20. The block 10 is covered by fabric of the same character as heretofore described to provide weather protective fabric side panels 11, 13 and a fabric front panel 12 on which are mounted the flexible, overlapping flaps or plates 14.

In both embodiments in FIGS. 4 and 5, there are provided adjacent the edges of panels 11 and 13 of the fabric covering a series of metal grommets 17. Screws 18 (not shown in FIGS. 4 and 5) extend through these grommets 17 and are held in the plate 9 or U-channel 20 to attach the edges of the fabric covering to the sides of the plate 9 or U-channel 20.

The top of the doorway also has a compressible, resilient piece extending thereacross. This comprises a Wood, mounting plate 26 mounted along the upper edge of the door opening on the building wall 2 by one or more Z-brackets or plates 28 and one or more L-brackets or plates 27, both of which are attached by screws, bolts or the like to the building wall 2 and the mounting plate 26. A block 32 of resilient, compressible material of the character of blocks 10 is attached by adhesive or other suitable means to the front face of plate 26. This block 32 is covered by a weather-resistant, wear-resistant fabric to provide flexible, fabric upper and lower panels 29, 31 and a front panel 30. The fabric may be attached to the mounting plate 26 in the same manner as the fabric cover is attached to the plate 9, as heretofore described. The flap or plate structure 1.4 for the side panels ordinarily is not essential for the piece 25 because, when it is compressed by the rear edge of the top or roof of the truck body, the block 32 has suflicient resiliency to allow it to roll with the up and down movement of the top or roof. This rolling characteristic applies only to movement transverse to the longitudinal axis of the block and does not apply to movement parallel with the longitudinal axis, as is the case with the up and down truck movement relative to pad structures 6, '7. If desired, however, the front panel may be provided with overlapping, heavy-duty, fabric flaps or plates extending across the panel.

The side panels 11, 13 of the pad structures 6, 7, and preferably also the upper and lower panels 29, 31 of the pad structure 25, may have a series of vent holes 33 therein. These vent holes 33 are air vents to provide for easier passage of air through the fabric cover when the foamtype pad blocks 10 are compressed by the rear end of a truck or when the blocks expand to their normal shape when the truck moves away from the loading dock.

It is thought that the invention and its numerous attendant advantages will be fully understod from the foregoing description, and it is obvious that numerous changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention, or sacrificing any of its attendant advantages, the form herein disclosed being a preferred embodiment for the purpose of illustrating the invention.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A pad structure adapted to be mounted adjacent a vertical side of a doorway to close off the space normally occurring between the side of the doorway and the rear edge of a truck body backed up to said doorway and comprising an elongated body of a cellular, resilient, compressible polymer mounted on an elongated, rigid, backing member, a flat face on said body opposite said member, a cover sheet on said body and extending over said flat face and opposite sides of said body, the longitudinal edges of said cover sheet overlapping the respective longitudinal edges of said elongated backing member, fastener means securing said longitudinal edge portions of said cover sheet on the respective longitudinal edges of said backing member, and a plurality of flaps of wear-resistant, flexible material attached to said cover sheet on said flat face, said flaps being arranged in a row extending longitudinally of said elongated body, and means extending transversely of said elongated body along only one of the respective edges of said flaps and attaching said flaps to said cover sheet only along said respective edges and providing a row of flaps on said flat face having their upper edges attached to said cover sheet and free, lower edges when said pad structure is mounted adjacent the side of a doorway.

2. A pad structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein said backing member is a flat, elongated board to which said cover is secured.

. 3. A pad structure as claimed in claim 1 wherein said backing member is an elongated, metal, U-channel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,239,329 9/17 Wilks 154-525 1,888,084 11/32 Howard et al. 20-69 2,215,515 9/40 Matheny 20-69 2,634,589 4/53 Wilson et al. 20-69 2,704,574 3/55 Etlar 20-69 2,879,985 3/59 Waddell et al 267-1 2,884,668 5/59 Harris et a1 20-69 2,954,591 10/60 Miles 20-69 3,011,218 12/61 Mitten 20-69 FOREIGN PATENTS 93,156 1 Netherlands. 173,986 1/61 Sweden.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner.

I. SCHNALL, Examiner. 

1. A PAD STRUCTURE ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED ADJACENT A VERTICAL SIDE OF A DOORWAY TO CLOSE OFF THE SAPCE NORMALLY OCCURRING BETWEEN THE SIDE OF THE DOORWAY AND COMEDGE OF A TRUCK BODY BACKED UP TO SAID DOORWAY AND THE AREA PRISING AN ELONGATED BODY OF A CELLULAR, RESILIENT, COMPRESSIBLE POLYMER MOUNTED ON AN ELONGATED, RIGID, BACKING MEMBER, A FLAT FACE ON SAID BODY OPPOSITE SAID MEMBER, A COVER SHEET ON SAID BODY AND EXTENDING OVER SAID FLAT FACE AND OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID BODY, THE LONGITUDINAL EDGES OF SAID COVER SHEET OVERLAPPING THE RESPECTIVE LONGITUDINAL EDGES OF SAID ELONGATED BACKING MEMBER, FASTENER MEANS SECURING SAID LONGITUDINAL EDGE PORTIONS OF SAID COVER SHEET ON THE RESPECTIVE LONGITUDINAL EDGES OF SAID BACKING MEMBER, AND A PLURALITY OF FLAPS OF WEAR-RESISTANT, FLEXIBLE MATERIAL ATTACHED TO SAID VOVER SHEET ON SAID BACKING MEMFLAPS BEING ARRANGED IN A ROW EXTENDING LONGITUDINAL OF SAID ELONGATED BODY, AND MEANS EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY OF SAID ELONGATED BODY ALONG ONLY ONE OF THE RESPECTIVE EDGES OF SAID FLAPS AND ATTACHING SAID FLAPS TO SAID COVER SHEET ONLY ALONG SAID RESPECTIVE EDGES AND PROVIDING A ROW OF FLAPS ON SAID FLAT FACE HAVING THEIR UPPER EDGES ATTACHED TO SAID COVER SHEET AND FREE, LOWER EDGES WHEN SAID PAD STRUCTURE IS MOUNTED ADJACENT THE SIDE OF A DOORWAY. 